


A day in the life

by smile_it_will_get_better



Series: Umbrella Academy Oneshots [6]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Brotherly Bonding, Diego Hargreeves is Bad at Feelings, Ghosts, Good Brother Diego Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Klaus is powerful af, but he tries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-07
Updated: 2019-03-07
Packaged: 2019-11-13 07:02:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18026996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smile_it_will_get_better/pseuds/smile_it_will_get_better
Summary: Diego was just looking for a way to solve the boredom plaguing him when he finds himself alone on a Saturday. Klaus was suppose to be a fun distraction to help Diego waste time. Diego wasn't expecting to get a glimpse into the daily life of a human Ouija board in the most unpleasant ways....Or the story where Diego just wants to be entertained and Klaus accidently makes a bunch of ghosts visible and scares the living daylights out of his brother.





	A day in the life

**Author's Note:**

> I got this idea from Mhxirii after they left a nice comment on one of my other works. They gave me an awesome idea of Klaus making a bunch of ghost visible to one of his siblings without realizing it and said siblings just gets mildly disturbed when Klaus doesn't even seem slightly affected by the dead people around him. Hope I managed to do it justice!!

Diego was used to weird things happening around Klaus. 

He had witnessed Klaus wear ridiculous things and manage to make them look good, had watched Klaus have a conversation in German with the air, and start a bar fight with a bunch of veterans. 

So it’s fair to say that he was used to Klaus bringing wacky and weird situations wherever he went. Maybe he hoped that since he was sober these opportunities may have decreased. 

But because it is Klaus, that was a stupid and unrealistic dream. 

It was a simple Saturday afternoon, the only time when they had time to just relax and have fun, talking and fooling around without their father yelling at them. Allison and Vanya went off to the mall, talking about buying some new shoes or something. Luther was in the gym like usual, Ben claimed he wanted some peace and quiet to read and Five was off wherever he went during times like this. 

That left just Klaus to entertain him, because Diego quickly became bored of just throwing knives and reading his books. 

He wandered around the room for a while, trying to locate his brother who was most likely doing something stupid somewhere.

After a good five minutes, _why did this house have to be so large_ , he finally heard some noises come from the library. 

He quickly moved towards them, glad to put a stop to his stupid wandering. 

He heard Klaus humming along to a song out of tune, Diego thought it was The Doors but he wasn’t sure. He followed the noise up to the library, walking in to see Klaus sitting at the table, humming and reading some random book. But that wasn’t what made Diego pause.

The place was crowded with ghosts. 

So many ghosts, some sitting round the table trying to get Klaus’s attention, others just wandering around the library, scrolling through books and talking over each other. 

There was so many of them, all of them crammed together but not really paying attention. He could see gunshots, slit throats, guts hanging out, others that looked perfectly fine. The gruesome scene made his stomach twirl, twisting into knots as he wanted to puke. A man with no legs was crawling on the floor, his guts and organs hanging out, dragging over the floor. The voices were soft, muted in a way. But they were still so loud, talking over one another. Some were talking about their deaths, who murdered them. Others were calling out for help, begging Klaus to save them. Others were simply screaming. 

And in the middle of it all, sat Klaus humming loudly, his feet kicked up on the table and kicking in time with whatever song he was singing. Klaus didn’t even seem to notice the ghosts that were milling around him, grabbing at his sleeves and calling out his name. 

Diego wandered in further, tapping Klaus on the shoulder before sitting down beside him. His heart was pounding, because the ghosts were all around him, glistening blood and guts shining in the light and their dead eyes gazing around with no life in them. 

“What’s up bro?” Klaus said, waving hello without looking up. A certain ghosts starting screaming Klaus's name, the sound distorted and horrible, grating on Diego's ears and making him want to throw his hands over his ears. It wasn't human, was natural, wasn't right. And Klaus didn't even flinch in the slightest. He just kept humming along like this was a usual occurrence for him. But Diego wasn't used to it, and the sound of a ghostly courus screaming his brother's name set him on edge. 

Diego took a deep breath, deciding to just go with it for the time being. “Nothing much, was looking for someone to entertain me but you seem to be just as boring as the rest.” He said, flicking the book in Klaus’s hand. 

Klaus threw the book at him, Diego just managing to block it from hitting him in the face. 

“I’m plenty interesting, just reading up on the horrible inaccuracies of history books.” Klaus said, stretching out. “What would be entertaining enough for you brother dear?”

“I don’t know, you want to go see a movie or something?” Diego asked, his eyes flickering to a man standing behind Klaus with half his head blown off, fragments of skull and brain visible for Diego to see. It made his heart leap into his throat. He was used to death, but Jesus Christ. 

“What is it?” Klaus asked, turning to look behind him. “What’s behind me?” He asked, not even bothering to acknowledge the very dead man standing behind him threateningly.

“N-n-nothing.” Diego stuttered, cursing his stupid speech problem. 

“Okay,” Klaus said with a frown. “Let’s go get some coffee and a donut instead, you look tired.” 

Diego shrugged, following Klaus who skipped out of the room, oblivious to the ghosts who watched him go, grabbing at him with bloody fingers. How did he live like this? Diego stumbled back as a ghost reached out towards _him_ bloody and broken fingers grasping for his shirt collar and his dead eyes boring into Diego, a gunshot to the chest making his clothes all bloody and sticky. 

He cried out in surprise, moving as far away from the ghost as he could. 

“Diego?” Klaus asked, stepping forwards, his eyes flickering between the ghost and his brother. “Can you see them?” He asked confused. 

Diego nodded, fear taking over his chest. He tried to contain it, but there were so many of them staring at him, screaming at him, the noise hurting his head. Reaching out towards them, their dead hands so close to him, their flesh grey and hanging off their distorted faces.

“Oh shit,” Klaus said, looking around and waving an arm. Suddenly all the ghosts left, and Diego relaxed slightly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that I was projecting.” Klaus said sheepishly. 

“It’s fine.” Diego managed, shuttering as he remembered the glassy eyes, the reaching fingers, the gore. He could barely stand five minutes, but here Klaus was living with it all the time. Klaus threw an arm around him, the weight of a living person helping Diego’s nerves calm. 

They walked out in silence, and Diego looked back, knowing that although he couldn’t see them he knew the ghosts were still there, watching him and crying out and screaming. 

He took a deep breath. 

“How do you deal with it?” He blurted out, glancing over at Klaus, who laughed. 

“I don’t.” He said simply. “They still terrify me, but at some point you kind of stop caring and tune them out.” 

Diego nodded. “That seems like a horrible way to live.” He observed. 

“Yeah, that’s why I got into drugs you know. It makes them go away, keeps them nice a quiet.” Klaus said, almost longingly. Diego knew that his brother had been sober ever since they got here, almost three months now. Diego still noticed the shakes and longing looks, the fidgeting that never went away, never lessoned. His brother was struggling, dealing with fighting addictions and ignoring screaming ghosts everyday. He must still ache for the sweet release of drugs, teh numbness it provided him.

And he could get it. Really, he could. He remembered the almost instant relief he got when Klaus made the ghosts disappear, sure they weren’t really gone. But out of sight out of mind right? Diego remembered how much he berated and belittle Klaus for his addiction. 

He never truly got why his brother would turn to stuff like that. So what he could see some stupid ghosts, he needed to just get over himself and start owning up to responsibility. But back then he didn’t get what the ghosts were. He thought that maybe it was one or two people innocently talking to him and Klaus having to tell them they were dead. Then they’d go their separate ways and never talk again. 

But these ghosts were horrible. 

There was so many of them to start off with. They seemed to pool around Klaus, attracted to him like a moth to a light. And they were dead. Like really dead. Guts hanging out blood gushing from wounds dead. As a little kid that would be pretty traumatizing to see, would mess anyone up pretty quickly. And from what Diego had seen they wouldn’t leave Klaus alone. They were loud, screaming and begging and Klaus barely even batted an eye. 

So maybe his brother turning to drugs made a lot more sense, was a lot easier to understand. Diego decided to start being a bit nicer to his brother, a bit more understanding to the issues he was suffering through. He didn't really know how to do that, how to show his brother that he really got it now. So he didn the kindest thing he could think of on the spot.

“I’m going to buy you a donut.” Diego said, turning to face his brother. 

“Oh I thought you’d never offer.” Klaus said with a grin, unhooking himself from Diego and skipping out the door and into the sunshine.

**Author's Note:**

> Comment down below what you think!!!


End file.
